This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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"Toolkit" for better bus services
30/10/2001
A new deal for bus passengers was launched today with
the publication of guidance on bus service powers.
Transport Minister Sarah Boyack said it heralded a new
era for bus passengers in Scotland.
In what she called the "biggest step forward in the bus
market since deregulation", bus operators must now give
greater notice of service changes and comply with service
guarantees. For the bus user this means improvements to
shelters, buses, more bus lanes and also guarantees on the
frequency of services.
The guidance on bus service provisions, contained in the
Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, published today marks the
completion of a "toolkit" of measures to assist local
authorities and bus operators to deliver better public
transport services.
The "toolkit" includes:
- Quality Partnership Schemes
- Quality Contract Schemes
- Ticketing Schemes
- Provision of information
In addition, Ms Boyack confirmed that the registration
requirements that bus operators must observe have been
tightened up. Operators must now inform local authorities
10 weeks in advance of any proposed service changes, and
must also now give 21 days notice to the public of any such
changes.
The Minister said:
"In some areas the bus industry provides excellent
services, but there are also areas where it does not meet
public expectation. Today's guidance sets out the new
powers which will enable further improvements to be
achieved.
"The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 gives us a new
framework for buses. The driving force behind this - the
biggest step forward since deregulation - is the
Executive's determination to improve public transport for
the passenger.
"The Executive's bus policy is based on a partnership
approach. We want to encourage local authorities and bus
companies to work together to deliver high quality services
to bus users.
"A Quality Partnership scheme enables local authorities
to put in place statutory arrangements with bus companies
to improve the quality of local bus services in a
particular area of Scotland.
"In broad terms, the local authority pledges to improve
infrastructure, for example, bus lanes and bus shelters and
the bus company pledges to provide high quality, low floor,
low emissions buses. Only bus companies who meet the
minimum quality standards will be permitted to run services
in that Quality Partnership area. In addition, local
authorities will be able to stipulate minimum frequencies
for services.
"A Quality Contract however, enables a local authority
to undertake wholesale contracting of local bus services,
subject to Ministerial approval.
"It is now possible for a local authority to specify how
the whole bus network within its area should look,
including what local bus services should be provided, what
fares should be charged and the standard of buses to be
used. A Quality Contract scheme requires bus companies to
bid for exclusive rights to provide bus services to an
authority's specification for a specified period of time of
between three and seven years.
"Quality Contract schemes mean competition for the bus
market, rather than competition in the bus market, and the
local authority deciding what services should be provided,
not commercial bus operators."
With the advent of the Act, local authorities can now
ensure that joint ticketing schemes are made available to
permit seamless travel. Bus companies would have to
implement the arrangements or the Traffic Commissioner
could take enforcement action against any company who
failed to work within agreed schemes.
BACKGROUND
In addition to the provisions in the 2001 Act, the
Executive also took steps to update the regulatory
framework for the registration of local bus services. The
"Public Service Vehicles (Local Service Registration)
(Scotland) Regulations 2001 SI No. 215", which came into
force on 1 July 2001, tightens up the registration
requirements that bus operators must observe. The period
for notifying a variation or cancellation of a service has
been extended from 42 to 56 days, and operators are now
also obliged to provide 21 days notice to the public on
service changes. Operators are also required to inform
local authorities 14 days before submitting registration
details to the Traffic Commissioner. In effect, these
changes provide local authorities with 10 weeks notice of
forthcoming service changes.
In addition, section 45 of the 2001 Act requires bus
operators to operate new or varied services for a minimum
of 90 days. Section 46 also contains powers to enable
Scottish Ministers, by regulation, to restrict dates on
which scheduled timings of local services may be varied to
no more than a maximum of 4 set dates in any calendar year,
for up to 3 years.